Occupational Health and Safety for Builders - Assignment Example

Occupational Health and Safety for Builders Name Institution Occupational Health and Safety for Builders Activity 1 People involved Costs Rob and family Rob’s productivity reduced because of the -injuries incurred Loss of extra income when Rob’s wife lost her job, while she nursed him Lost time due to the time spent in hospital and physiotherapy sessions Rob’s quality of performing duties reduced because he could not perform heavy lifting duties. Transport expenses to and from health care centers Rob’s wife lost income Other health care and living expenses that are not covered by levies P & M Constructions Covering Rob’s medical costs Reduced productivity Providing Rob compensation for injuries because he was injured while performing his duties and work cover Loss of Rob’s skills in the workplace Expenses of additional training to employees to prevent such accidents from happening Loss of time that would have been used for productivity to clean up after the accident and investigate Community Making social welfare payments Covering for the costs of treating Rob’s injuries Loss of the skills of Rob that benefited the community Activity 2 Case study 3: Delivery of roof trusses Do you think the employer provided and maintained a safe and healthy working environment (consider practicability)? Give reasons for your decisions. The employer did not provide a safe working environment for the employees. The employer was aware of the risks that are involved if the loads of previously stacked timber roof trusses were placed poorly. He, however, let the previous site employees stack them recklessly, and this posed a risk to others who were carrying on with their duties at the site. He should, therefore, have set rules and regulations on how the trusses would be stacked, to provide a safe environment. The employer would have taken practical measures, such as, detecting the likelihood of a risk, the level of harm as a consequence of the risk, provide knowledge on ways of removing the risk and avail resources or ways of removing the risk. Finally, the employer did not take any measures to prevent Tim from unloading his trusses, even after noticing the risk (Work Health and Safety Act, 2011). Did all employees take reasonable care? Explain. The employees did not take reasonable care because firstly, they were aware that if they stacked the trusses wrongly, they would be risking their health and safety, but they did it anyway. Secondly, they knew they were risking the safety of their colleagues and they did not take practical measures to unload and stack the trusses in the right manner. The employees did not comply with the requirement of their employer to maintain a safe working environment. Finally, Tim would have avoided unloading his trusses after realizing the previously stacked trusses posed a risk to his safety and health (Work Health and Safety Act, 2011). Are there any issues involving the provision of information, instruction, training and supervision that ought to be considered? Be specific. Issues involving provision of supervision are present. If the employees had been properly supervised, they would have stacked the trusses in the right manner and would not have posed a risk. Secondly, it is clear that the employees had been given instructions on the right way to stack their trusses because, when Tim arrived at the site, he noticed that the previously unloaded trusses were poorly stacked. Therefore, the employees had been given instructions (Lingard & Rowlinson, 2005). Case Study: Health and safety issues Sections/sub-sections Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (effective 1/1/12) Lack of risk management in the workplace Subdivision 2.1.1 section 17: risk management Lack of performing reasonable practical actions to make sure a workplace is safe Subdivision 2.1.2 section 18: ensuring health and safety by doing the reasonably practical actions at a particular time Unsafe handling, transport and storage of substances posing a risk in the workplace Division 2.2 section 19: primary duty of care Lack of proper management or proper monitoring the conditions of a workplace Division 2.2 section 19: primary duty of care Lack of monitoring how plant is handled in the workplace Division 2.3 section 21: duty of employers or managers to control or manage plant and fittings at a workplace Lack of employees taking care for their own safety Division 2.4 section 28: workers’ duties Lack of employees taking reasonable care of their colleagues’ safety by conducting actions that risks their safety Division 2.4 section 28: workers’ duties Lack of employees complying with the set workplace procedures and reasonable polices therefore risking their safety and that of their colleagues. Division 2.4 section 28: workers’ duties Activity 3 1) Under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, an employer has a duty of care to provide: Answer: D 2) Under the Work Healthy and Safety Act 2011 employees must: Answer: B 3) Provisional Improvement Notices (PINs) can be issued by: Answer: A 4) Hazard may be defined as: Answer: A 5) Risk is best defined as: Answer: B 6) The first hierarchy of control measure is: Answer: B 7) Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)the last step/stage of the Hierarchy of Control because: Answer: A 8) At what level/height must you take precautions when working at height (ACT regulations)? Answer: B 9) On housing sites, power tools and equipments must be tested: Answer: B 10) The plant regulations require an employer to: Answer: D Assessment 4 Induction checklist Site: Complied by: Date: Yes No Comment Set up Assessment of protection and access of the public done Yes Assessment of the effect of the site to the safety and health of the public and property done Yes Provision of the required temporary fencing Yes Posting of necessary signs Yes Availability of amenities: Toilets Canteen Storage containers Laundry room Yes Provision of safe access and egress through, to and from the site Yes Ongoing induction processes Yes Condition of the site Existence of hazardous building materials assessed Yes investigation of the site soil for evidence of contamination No Assessment of how approximate the power lines are Yes Location of underground services verified Yes Processes of contractor management Processes for making sure the contractor is following the safety requirements are underway Yes Processes for monitoring the safety performance of a sub-contractor are underway Yes Emergencies and First Aid Assessment of first aid Yes Availability of first aid kit at the site assessed Yes Emergency contacts details provided Yes Register of probable injuries provided Yes Electrical Issues Provision of temporary electrical supply Yes Proof that Certificate of Electrical Safety has been acquired Yes Existence of adequate supply of electricity Yes Planning and monitoring for testing of electrical equipment Yes Issues/ Specific Hazards Assessment of trenching operations need Yes Identification of plant to be used Yes Evaluations of traffic management in the site environment done Yes Identification of any hazardous object to be used on site Yes Identification of risks involving injuries caused by handling materials manually Yes Height assessments done Yes Issues posing a risk to the health of the workers identified yes Induction information Site management team Contract manager: Site manager: Project details Site address: Type of project: Domestic building Layout: Located adjacent to a primary school and overhead power lines run past the building site Welfare facilities: Toilets Storage containers Procedure requirements First Aid There are two trained first aid personnel and first aid facilities are located on the right just after the entrance of the site. Emergency contacts details are provided Accident reporting Any accident happening on the site will be reported to the site manager for immediate and appropriate action and recording. Fire precautions At least, three fire extinguishers are placed strategically around the site and in the welfare facilities. Smoking There is a designated smoking zone adjacent the toilets. PPE requirements Workers must wear hard hats all times within the construction site and safety footwear. Training records Tasks requiring certified personnel, the personnel will have to produce the original certificate for inspection by site manager. Storage of material Company site staff and manager have to first agree where materials being brought in will be stored Evacuation A designated assembly point has been set for all personnel evacuating the site to enable a head count. No one is allowed to renter the site without authorization by site manager. Consultation Any worker having concerns about safety issues is allowed to speak them out to the company site staff. Temporary fence A temporary fence has been put up to prevent children from the adjacent primary school assessing the site Height check Height check up has been done and verified to avoid disrupting the overhead power lines Site rules All employees and site staff must: 1. Cooperate with others and site manager 2. Maintain safety and health for themselves and others 3. Wear protective gear all times 4. Report any unsafe conditions or accidents 5. Report defective equipments 6. Not operate any machinery they have not been trained 7. Obey signs and notices in the site 8. Not use alcohol and drugs in the site or operate under influence of the same 9. Keep a tidy and hazard free workplace 10. Not breach any safety rule Induction register Site address: Name Induction date signature Induction done by 3. The site induction is an important aspect of your OHS education and training. List three other effective strategies for communicating occupational health and safety policy and practice you would use on your worksite. Correcting any observed non-conformance quickly Establishing a reporting system Making safety inspections (Hughes & Ferrett, 2011) 4. Describe how you would develop and implement these strategies and what steps you would take to ensure they remain effective. Correcting any observed non-conformance quickly I would make sure that all employees are aware of the safety rules of the site. I would also notify them of the agreed standards of work practice and the regulations. At this point, all employees will be having knowledge of what they are expected to do, and how to perform their duties. I would then notify them of the types of non-conformances to look out for. These will include any activities conducted by a builder, employee or contractor that are not safe. After such an activity is noticed, I will approach the builder, employee or contractor immediately, notifying him of the non-conformance. The unsafe activity will then be corrected to maintain a safe working environment. To make sure that this strategy is effective and carried out often, there will be continuous supervision at the site and training of different ways of maintaining a safe environment. The employees, contractors and builders will also be encouraged to avoid any unsafe activities, and correct them whenever they are noticed. This will help a great deal in communicating occupational health and safety policy and practice (Hughes & Ferrett, 2011). Establishing a reporting system Establishing an effective system of reporting is an effective method of communicating occupational health and safety policy and practice. To develop this strategy, all the people working at the site will be encouraged to report any situation or occurrence that they feel pose the risk of serious injuries and death. In the reporting system, the first step will be to report any unsafe activities within the site. The second step will be to tell the builder or the contractor of the non-conformance so that an immediate action will be taken. The risk-causing hazard will then be controlled or removed to reduce the risk. The relevant workers are investigated on the cause of the hazard and the reasons why it was not controlled earlier. A report will then be created showing the steps that will be taken to control the hazard and the people responsible for it (Hughes & Ferrett, 2011). Making safety inspections Regular safety inspections are necessary for communicating occupational health and safety policy and practices. This strategy will involve availing safety information to workers regularly. Making regular safety inspections to make sure there is no safety and health hazard would improve this strategy. Inspecting accident scenes to understand what might have caused it train the workers on how to avoid that in the future (Goetsch, 2011). References Goetsch, D. L. (2011). Occupational Safety and Health for Technologists, Engineers, and. Hughes, P., & Ferrett, E. (2011). Introduction to health and safety at work. Elsevier. Hughes, P., & Ferrett, E. (2011). Introduction to Health and Safety in Construction: The Handbook for Construction Professionals and Students on NEBOSH and Other Construction Courses. Routledge. Lingard, H., & Rowlinson, S. M. (2005). Occupational health and safety in construction project management. Taylor & Francis. Work Health and Safety Act (2011). Work Health and Safety Act 2011 Read More